Dual in line package (DIP) switches have been used for many years. They are mounted on a printed circuit board and subjected to flow soldering to solder their pins to appropriate circuit paths on the printed circuit board. Thereafter, the soldered printed circuit board is cleaned to remove flux therefrom.
The DIP switches in undergoing the flow soldering and cleaning operations can become contaminated thereby resulting in switch failures requiring them to be replaced which is time-consuming and costly.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 326,723 filed Dec. 2, 1981, the disclosure of which is completely incorporated herein by reference, discloses a sealed electrical contact assembly and an actuating mechanism for operating a movable electrical contact member of the sealed electrical contact assembly.
In assembling the parts together to form the actuating mechanism, problems have been encountered due to the configurations of the parts and the tolerances thereof. This is especially true when automatic assembly machinery is involved.